Back to driving school
by xXMephystoXx
Summary: After Brian has taken Hetty's job offer, his first case already leads him to the L-A- street racing scene. And to a driving school, together with G. Callen. Spoiler for NCIS LA 1x17 "Full Throttle"
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody,

NCIS Furious continues! :) This time there are 8 chapters that will be uploaded every two weeks.

Have fun reading!

Greetings, Mephysto

.:NCIS Furious:.

"Turn around, Mr. O'Conner."

Brian did as he was told. Thereby he turned his back on his reflection and faced Ms. Lange. The little woman contemplatively measured him from head to toe. Brian tensed the muscles in his hand to not rake his fingers through his hair.

"Very good, Mr. O'Conner. It is similar to your style, but appears respectable. I'll order some more similar pieces for you."

Brian laughed, "So you're going to deduct it from my salary? I can buy my clothes myself, too."

"Of course, you can, Mr. O'Conner," Ms. Lange gave him a shirt, which he slipped on. She pushed his hands aside, when he wanted to button it up, and rolled up his sleeves, "but you have a body, that shouldn't be hidden by these baggy pants and t-shirts. Wear muscle shirts and leave the shirts open. And no more baggy jeans! Slim fit jeans suit you, so you'll wear them."

Flabbergasted Brian looked at her. He didn't knew there were different forms of jeans. He wanted to respond, because the pants he now wore fitted kind of tightly. But Ms. Lange's eyes pierced through him and he quickly closed his mouth. Ms. Lange nodded satisfied.

"But I can keep wearing my converse, right?" asked Brian. Ms. Lange frowned. She went to a shelf and produced some black shoes, which appeared informal, but not directly casual. She pushed them into Brian's hands with the words, "These are permitted. Of course you can wear your converse at home, but when I catch you with them at the office, you can kiss your Skyline goodbye! Do you understand?"

Brian gulped and nodded hastily. Man, this woman was tough! He slipped the shoes on and tied them. As he stood upright again, he asked, "How are these things called? Just that I know what look for, when I need new ones."

"These _things_ are called wingtips. Very classic gent's shoes. And now turned around so that I can examine the complete works."

Brian faced the mirror. Another man stared back at him. And it wasn't just because of his vanished dark circles around the eyes. He felt oddly fresh, considering he'd landed in LAX with the other three just three hours ago.

They'd needed a whole week in Miami to conclude the case with Verone wholly. Then his testimony against Markham had to be recorded. The last day they'd gotten free. Callen and the others had walked down to the beach to enjoy the weather. Whereas Brian had sorted out his affairs with Tej. His friend had provided his garage and now the Skyline didn't look as terrible before anymore. Some details were still missing, but Tej had promised him to let the car be delivered to a good garage in L.A. And they'd celebrated his farewell at Tej's, all together. Even the three agents.

Sam Hanna and Kensi Blye, his future colleagues, had lodged in a small, cheap hotel, but Callen had stayed with Brian on the houseboat the whole time. Brian reddened every time, while thinking of that.

And then Ms. Lange had ordered them back. In the middle of the night they taken off in Miami and landed in L.A. at around 4 a.m. The other three had been allowed to drive to their respective houses to shower and change, but she'd commanded Brian to appear before her immediately.

Luckily he hadn't been that tired and the shower at the mansion had done the last thing to freshen him up. Then Ms. Lange had declared she wanted to clothe him anew.

And now he stood here, in tight, gray jeans, black muscle shirt and dark blue shirt with new shoes (wingtips, he told himself) and didn't look at all like Bullitt. Even not like Brian O'Conner, if he thought so. But it suited him, so Ms. Lange knew how to do her job.

"Wonderful", Ms. Lange put a hand under her chin, "really much better. How is your shoulder?"

"Better, almost doesn't hurt."

"Very good. We have to think about a cover identity for you. Outside the OSP no one is entitled to know you're working for the NCIS. What job did you think of?"

Surprised Brian looked down at her, "Job? What do you mean?"

"Well, for any good cover story there has to be a cover job. The sooner you decider, the sooner Mr. Beale can put your documents together."

"What are the others doing?" asked Brian to look for some ideas.

"Miss Blye poses as curator, Mr. Hanna even was a sommelier one time. He has a certificate. And Mr. Callen works with stocks, according to his identity."

Brian lifted a brow, "G? With stocks? That I'd have never guessed."

"Oh, you just haven't seen him in a suit yet," Ms. Lange looked impishly at him. At that Brian reddened. He cleared his throat, "What do you think would be a fitting job? I mean-"

"What did you want to be growing up?"

Brian didn't want to give her the same answer like Callen some days ago: _I just wanted to be out of Barstow. And never go back._

"Not policeman at any rate," he said instead, "I could pose as mechanic. I already know everything and don't need to learn anything new."

"Not a bad idea. I'll take it into consideration when I'm putting your documents with Mr. Beale together."

"But I thought I'd get to choose my job myself?"

Ms. Lange patted his arm, "Trust me, Mr. O'Conner. Did you actually already find an accommodation?"

Brian shook his head, "Since I'm in L.A., I've been here. My house will already be sold. I'll look for a motel or something for transition later, until I found a flat."

"Why aren't you sleeping at Mr. Callen's?"

Brian gulped. How much did this little dragon knew about him and G? That was scary!

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't want to impose on him in any case."

Ms. Lange lifted a brow and didn't seem convinced. Brian kept talking fast to not give her time to react, "Besides I'll have to complete the training at FLETC first, before I can work here, right? That means I won't be in L.A. for some weeks."

"I'll see whether you can circumvent the training. I don't think it will be difficult. I read in your file that were considered for the SWAT team because of your shooting skills. May I ask where you did learn that? Because police training doesn't include sniper training."

"A friend of mine taught me. It's not that difficult."

"And did your friend give you the notion to shoot with a _HK417 Sniper_? In our country this gun is predominantly used by Delta Force and SEAL teams."

Brian kept silent for a moment and contemplated. He decided to be as vague as possible, "He got me the gun and I handle this the best. However I left it in L.A., so it won't be there anymore."

Ms. Lange nodded absently. The ringing of a cell phone broke the silence. She nodded at Brian, took the call and disappeared.

Brian took a deep breath and raked all fingers through his hair. The paperwork was done, he had new clothes and a new life. He just needed his documents. Time to begin his first work day!

Callen entered the villa after Sam. His friend argued with him since thirty minutes ago. Since Callen had picked him up. And there was no end in sight, "You really got to start taking the freeway."

"I like taking the streets."

"No, you like being late. The freeway would have gotten us here faster."

"Oh, that parking lot they call the 10?"

"It's also known as the Santa Monica freeway. They have names as well as numbers."

Why should that interest Callen? For him it was just important to get ahead. And that wasn't possible on a freeway, where you were more parking than driving. Even right after the week in Miami something like that was disappointing. He now understood Brian better. After all his lover – where they lovers now? – had taken him to some street races. In some of them Callen had taken part. He'd won them all!

Okay, they'd been small fry, as Tej had assured him. That's why the won sums kept within bounds. Nonetheless he'd won the races and just had to watch out for Hetty. She consistently had it in her for him because of his driving style!

Anyway where was Brian? He should've been here since an hour and a half or two hours. Callen scanned the room, while still arguing with Sam, "Well, Olympic's faster."

"You never take Olympic before noon going west."

"What if it's a leap year?" they reached their desks. Kensi sat at hers, Nate at Callen's. Not a trace of Brian. Callen would query Hetty later. He faced his colleagues, "Sam here claims to know the name of every freeway in California."

Kensi was the first, "Oh yeah? What about the 8?"

"Ocean Beach Freeway", answered Sam.

Nate, "The 2?"

"Glendale Freeway."

Callen searched for a tricky one, "215."

Sam hesitated.

Triumphantly Callen looked at Kensi and Nate, "Got him."

"Escondido Freeway", this voice didn't belong to Sam. Callen turned around. Brian leaned with his right shoulder against the metal bars, the hands in the pockets. He smiled at them and Callen's heart skipped a beat. Any fatigue vanished out of his body and involuntarily a smile sneaked on his face.

Brian was changed. He didn't look as tired as on the day they met each other. And he wore other clothes. Better clothes! Tight jeans, tight shirt, open button down. He looked hot.

Callen guessed he'd to thank Hetty for that.

"Hello Brian", he greeted. Brian nodded back and looked insecurely at the other people in the room. His smile turned shakier, before it became just polite.

Callen had told Hetty of their relationship from the beginning (not every detail). He'd made it clear that he wouldn't end it with Brian, even when they worked together. Hetty had nodded and gifted him a smile. Now Callen decided to introduce Brian to their group. Even if Sam would have problems with him. No one wanted Dom Vaile replaced.

"You already know Kensi and Sam", Callen went to Brian and put his arm around him. The young man was totally stiff, but relaxed at his touch noticeably. Callen lead him between the desks and stopped in front of his own, "This is Nate Getz. He's our psychologist."

"Pleased to meet you", Nate put out his hand and observed him interested. Brian smiled blandly back and acknowledged the greeting.

"You seem to have already been in Hetty's clutches", noticed Kensi with a nod at Brian's clothes. Brian laughed, "She insisted to get me new clothes. And she wants to set up a new identity for me."

"Did you already choose a job?" asked Sam as he shook Brian's hand. The blonde shrugged his shoulders, "We talked about it, but she wanted to arrange it herself after all."

Callen began, "Did you already-", but the ringing of a bike bell interrupted him. They looked up to the balustrade. Eric rolled up to them on a Segway and stopped at the balustrade.

Nate laughed and Kensi asked, "Oh my God. Are you kidding?"

"Nice geek chariot", Sam shouted up to him.

"Mock away, bipeds", answered Eric, "but I've shaved 43 minutes of walking time that I can now apply to my work."

"43 minutes?" asked Callen impressed and looked challenging at Sam, "I bet he took the streets."

"Yeah, right."

Eric turned the Segway around, "I'm a firm believer that what you drive reflects who you are."

"I agree with you", said Brian grinning brightly, "Just: whom do you represent?"

"An avid data analyst, who relinquishes unnecessary walking to use his work time efficiently."

Brian nodded and gifted a salute to Eric, "You convinced me."

"Thanks, Mr. O'Conner. I'm Eric."

"Brian", and with that drove back into the OSP center. The other followed him. Callen lingered and took Brian's arm, "Hey!"

Brian stopped and faced him. His smile was as relaxed as Callen had only seen him in the last days in Miami. They'd been parted for just two hours, nevertheless it appeared to him as if there were worlds between Miami and L.A.

"How are you?"

Brian shrugged, "I'm just overtaken by the events. It's still unbelievable."

Callen locked his fingers with Brian's and laid his lips on Brian's temple, "Then let's talk later."

Brian nodded.

"Come!" Callen ran up the stairs, "Before the others are looking for us."


	2. Chapter 2

Brian's heart rate gradually normalized again as he entered the OSP center. There were no windows in the room. It was lit up by a big screen at the long wall and many little ones. In the middle stood a table, which surely had some technical trickery skills, too.

Brian placed himself at the table's corner beside Nate and looked to Eric. Who walked, a tablet in his hand, to the big screen, where an ID photo of a man could be seen, "Naval Yeoman James Rush, home on leave from San Diego Naval Base, died in an illegal street race in a stadium parking lot early this morning."

Eric played a video.

An Eclipse and a Civic drove a normal quarter mile race. Until the Eclipse, probably as the driver activated his NOS, suddenly exploded.

"In our culture, some consider it a rite of passage," Nate said pejoratively. Brian looked to him and lifted a brow. He caught Callen's look, who responded grinning, "Boys will be boys."

Nate flinched and looked slightly embarrassed at Brian, "Sorry, I forgot-"

Brian waved his hand, "It's not to everybody's taste. And I think for a large portion of Americans one car looks like another."

Eric smiled challengingly, "But not for you? Then you can certainly tell us the models."

"The silver one was a Honda Civic and the orange one a Mitsubishi Eclipse."

"That one looks familiar to me," Callen murmured and stepped closer to the screen. He regarded the Eclipse extensively, "Isn't that the car I drove down in Miami?"

Smiling Brian shook his head. It was strange that he couldn't tell the difference between one jeans model and another, but these cars couldn't be more diverse for him.

"You drove a Spyder and I drove an Evo. When I was undercover, two years ago, I had an Eclipse. Didn't survive for long."

"Well, for me," said Nate, "everything looks the same."

"That's because you don't have a heart for cars," meant Kensi accusingly.

"Hear, hear!" Brian exchanged a fist bump with her. Then Kensi went up to a second screen, where Yeoman Rush's personnel file was seen.

"What was Rush's classification?" asked Sam.

"Well, according to his file," answered Kensi, "he was working Admin Support for the quartermaster's office."

"What's weird is," noted Eric, "Yeoman Rush's file is heavily encrypted."

Brian frowned, "What Admin division is encrypted?"

Sam explained, "The ones used to cover something confidential. Eric, find out what he was really working on."

"Well, could just be an unfortunate mishap", said Nate. Sam didn't seem convinced. He brought the video up, zoomed in and played it again, "Maybe. But that encrypted personnel file suggests he was working somewhere classified."

Callen stepped forward, "The other driver kept going. Never even tapped the brake."

"Doesn't mean he didn't know Rush or even murdered him," Brian added for consideration. The five turned to him. They had really piercing looks, but Brian didn't let it show in his face. He just put his hands into his – tight – pockets. On that account he should maybe talk again to Ms. Lange. But the others waited for an explanation from him.

"Such a crash doesn't go unnoticed for very long. Another driver hardly would've stopped. If NOS goes off, the best you can do is fleeing. This one nobody would've survived. And the police will have been there fast, so everyone will have scrammed to avoid more trouble."

"And what would you have done?" asked Nate interested. Brian look innocently back, "I just got a clean slate, so I'd hardly say I'd drive an illegal race."

"So, you don't think the other driver's running?" asked Eric. Sam brought up the picture if the Honda. Kensi listed, "Tinted windows, no plates, no ID."

But Sam had discovered a little marking on the car's rear, "Tokkan One. Tokkan, it's Japanese. It means a lightning bolt."

Callen asked Brian, "I know you weren't in the city for two years, but does the name ring a bell?"

"The racing scene is interconnected, too. I heard that Tokkan became the new number one after Dom ran from L.A. But no one exactly knows who that is. No one ever saw him."

"We need to find the other driver," said Callen, "let's check out the crash site."

"Take Kensi," spoke Sam. Callen and Kensi looked surprised at him. Puzzled Brian lifted a brow. Callen had told him that Sam was his best friend and partner. Shouldn't he therefore work with Callen together?

Sam turned around, "Yeah, you heard me. I know you're taking the PCH. I'm not sitting in traffic. So I'll find out everything I can about Yeoman Rush. You two suck exhaust for the next two hours."

Brian raised his hand, "Maybe then I could come with you?"

Sam crossed his arms, "So I should do all the work alone?"

"Okay," said Callen, "then Brian and I will drive and Kensi'll be helping you."

"No way!" meant Kensi, "I was looking forward to it."

She looked to Brian. A mischievous grin sneaked on her face, "Let's toss-up for it."

Brian hesitated, and then he accepted. They tossed a coin, Kensi was allowed to declare and won. But Brian wasn't too disappointed, "In exchange I'm entitled to look at the totaled car."

Kensi nodded.

"If the game's over," Callen grinned, "then let's go, Kensi. Hey, what do you say we stop for some doughnuts?"

Triumphantly Kensi passed Sam and Brian "I love doughnuts."

Sam shouted after them "You didn't say anything about doughnuts."

Brian grinned. This team was really wicked. It may be to his likening. He stepped beside Sam, "And what will we be doing now?"

Sam brought up the personnel file, "You're the so called car expert. Analyze the video with Eric."

Astonished Brian looked at Sam. Recently Sam seemed on edge around Brian.

Maybe the man was just tired.

It rang two times, before the man at the other end answered, "Vance, here."

"Hello, Leon," greeted Hetty, "I assume you already got my email?"

She heard a sigh, "You mean concerning your new protégé? His file is right before me. I'm not really sure, whether he's the right candidate. He has quite a record."

"Didn't you read the preliminary report from Miami, yet? The boy's a natural. And he meets all requirements: best at the police academy, outstanding shooter and driver, speaks several languages. And during his undercover assignments he only got good evaluations."

"Yes," mocked Vance, "at his last assignment he was so good, he changed sides. Hetty, with all the sensitive data your team daily works with, we can't afford that!"

"If we better watch out for O'Conner than his old bosses, something like that won't be repeated. The LAPD wasn't that innocent of the events two years ago."

"Be that as it may: I don't deem it a good idea."

Hetty inwardly cursed. She contemplated the surveillance photo, taken by the colleagues from L.A. two years ago and that now lay in Brian O'Conner's file. He reminded her strongly of Daryl. That was probably the reason why she fought so hard to keep the man.

"Director Vance, this man can handle more weapons than most of your agents. He has a good instinct and his interrogation evaluations show how manipulative he can be. I think the rest of his file speaks volumes."

"Hetty, if you so urgently need a replacement for Agent Vaile, then pick one of the NCIS agents. I guarantee you free choice. Or you talk to that undercover officer from the LAPD. Decker was his name, right?"

"Deeks. But that's irrelevant. I _want_ O'Conner and I think he's earned a second chance. Think of your own past. Didn't somebody give you a second chance, too?"

Vance kept silent. Hetty allowed herself a little smile. So far it worked out. She closed in for the kill, "And think of that, Leon: Do you really want someone with O'Conner's skills on the other side?"

Vance sighed long. He hesitated and Hetty saw his face before her eye. The forehead frowning, the mouth distorted. But eventually he acknowledged defeat, "All right, Hetty. I'll put him on the list with the candidates for the FLETC and-"

"I don't think that will be necessary," Hetty quickly objected, "Why prolong it? O'Conner did already two expert courses for interrogation and shooting there. And now he should do basis training?"

"Hetty, the Criminal Investigator Training Program is mandatory for every new NCIS agent-"

"Do you want the poor boy to quit on his first day, because he's bored to death?"

Groaning Vance relented, "Very well, hetty. He doesn't have to do this training."

Satisfied Hetty grinned. She'd accomplished to outsmart the old fox again!

"But I want him learning under Gibbs for a few weeks. Then I'll be able to evaluate his performance myself. And if Gibbs didn't scare him off, he may return to the OSP."

"Whatever," Hetty agreed. Gibbs was a good mentor and Brian would survive a couple of weeks with him. The boy had survived much worse.

"Then I'll expect O'Conner in D.C. as soon as your case is closed," muttered Vance, "have a nice day, Hetty."

With that he hung up. Hetty clapped her hands, stood up and went to the water kettle. It was time for a nice cup of Rooibos tea.

While she waited for the water to boil, she discovered an envelope from the LAPD in her in-tray. Curious she opened the envelope and a photo of Callen fell out of it. He'd run a red light again.

Hetty's mood increased exponentially as she got an idea. Grinning she pured the water on the tea leaves and waited for Callen and Kensi to come back. Meanwhile she visited the web in search of driving schools.

Grinning Callen held the bag of donuts in his hand. He had a piece of raspberry vanilla in his hand and Kensi devoured the last piece of green apple. The last one was a chocolate donut with strawberry filling. He pressed the bag with it in it into Brian's hands, who smiled at him and immediately reached into it.

"You seem a little wet," he said and took a bite, "is it raining?"

"Heavy drizzle," answered Kensi, "but the track was the best. No obstacles far and wide. You can get your car at full speed, there."

Brian smirked. He had a sparkle in his eye and a little strawberry marmalade at his mouth's corner, which Callen would've liked to lick off. Instead he cleared his throat.

"There are some tracks in L.A.," Brian wiped the marmalade off and licked his thumb, "you'd like. There made for quarter mile races. But if you want to experience something really cool, join in Race Wars."

"I never heard of that."

"It goes down annually in the desert. The whole day just races, without cops and all. Only you, the track and your car. If you're good, you'll make money."

Excited Kensi linked arms with Brian, "I think you'll be my new best friend. Will you take me along one day?"

"I don't know. Do you have a car you could drive there? Just watching would be boring."

Kensi grinned so wide that Callen was happy Brian kept to just one team. He'd resent eliminating one of his best friends.

Brian seemed to read his thoughts, because he looked at Callen, "Maybe you should think about it, too. If you had fun in Miami, you'll like that for sure."

Callen stepped closer to Brian and lowered his voice, "Oh, fun I did have."

A blush covered Brian's cheeks. He opened his mouth, but Sam appeared, "Hello, G, already back again?"

"There and back in just over an hour on the PCH. Booyah!" he put the last piece of donut into his mouth.

Sam played it down, "Ah! You got lucky," his eyes wandered to Brian, who nodded back chewing, then back to Callen again, "Where's my doughnut?"

Callen looked down at Sam, "I thought you were watching your figure."

"Okay," that sounded a little aggressive.

"Oh, Mr. Callen," Hetty held a photo up. It looked damn like that of a traffic cam. Callen's heart dropped into his gut. He wasn't even back in L.A. for a day! Did the police really need that long to send the photo to Hetty? That was unfair!

Before he'd taken the plane down to Miami, he'd promised to drive properly. And just now he'd broken the speed limit just slightly.

"It seems you've been spotted again in a bit of a rush."

Callen took the letter with the picture from Hetty's hand. Brian looked at the photo, "Ooh, red light camera. Busted!"

Callen acted fast, "I was chasing a suspect."

That always went down well.

Sam pulled the paper to him, "Nope. That was our day off. You were late picking me up for the Kings game."

Annoyed and reproachful he stared at Sam. Thank you, _partner!_ , he thought.

"No doughnut, no love," Sam replied.

Brian giggled, "It won't be that bad. You surely have contacts with the cops, right? Let them sort this out."

"Maybe our buddy Bernhart from LAPD can help you out with that", Kensi jumped in to help him.

Hetty wasn't that keen, "Oh, he most certainly will not. You're gonna jeopardize this cover?"

"Is it really that bad?" asked Brian, "You certainly just have to pay a fine, right. Everyone runs a red light sometimes."

"It isn't that easy", objected Hetty. That figures!

"You'll do what everybody else does and go to traffic school."

"That's quite a severe and boring punishment," pitying Brian patted his shoulder. Callen gifted him with an annoyed look and the blonde grinned cheekily back.

"It's no big deal," said Sam, "you can do it online. You'll love it."

"You can if you haven't had a conviction in the previous 18 months. Unfortunately, this is number three for Mr. Callen."

"You have three violations", astonished Brian looked at him, "don't you know how _not_ to get caught?"

"Not everyone is a crazy driver like you", he muttered back, "maybe you should show me some tricks."

"I'll come, too!" shouted Kensi.

"Mr. Callen" oh, Hetty's voice was strict, which meant she was deadly serious, "You'll do 16 hours of in-class study."

"Hetty, you're joking", begged Callen. He was short on getting on his knees! He'd even wash her car!

"Don't worry", now she smiled and that was worse, "maybe it'll be fun. I enrolled you in a comedy traffic school for the next two days. On the second day they're doing education on their own grounds."

Almost panicked he looked at his boss. Brian beside him hid his grin behind his hand.

"You didn't!" Callen was now at the negotiation stage, "Hetty, I'm working on a case!"

"Sam and Kensi are more than capable of covering for you until you're finished."

Both nodded eagerly and Sam held both thumbs upwards. Traitor!

"One moment!" Brian's head darted up, "I didn't hear my name."

Hetty measured him with an amused look. Callen saw how Brian paled, "I anticipate nothing good."

"I thought it would be a good idea to give in your name together with Mr. Callen's."

"You thought so," murmured Brian almost inaudibly. He looked as if he was in shock.

"You are not supposed to fall back into old patterns," explained Hetty, "a little refreshment will do you good. And just for you I made sure you got a course with practical experience."

"Thanks," said Brian weakly and looked helplessly to Callen, who just shrugged his shoulders and was delighted that he wasn't alone in this farce.

Hetty looked at her watch, "It starts in one half hour in Culver City, so you best be on your way. We don't want you breaking the speed limit to get there."

Kensi suggested, "You might wanna take the 90. Just saying."

"Which is the Marina Freeway," said Hetty. Callen just found one word for that, "Ha!"

"We'll take the 405th", Brian chimed in, "the San Diego Freeway. It's significantly faster. Pass me the keys, please, G?"

Callen wanted to reply something, but threw them just defeated at the blonde.

Before they were out of the villa, he turned around again and said to Kensi, "If you got something, send a preliminary report to the appraiser. She shouldn't call us and get on our nerves."

"Appraiser?" asked Brian confused, "What appraiser?"

"Her name's Allison Pritchett and she's appraiser for Raydex insurances."

Brian snorted, "I bet! I think Eric should check this woman. She lied coldly to you."

Callen looked open mouthed at him.

"Why do you think so, Mr. O'Conner?" asked Hetty.

"You can't get insurance for cars for street races. Even if your car is insured, as soon as you tune it for street race, it gets invalid. Every good driver knows that."

"Wherefrom?" asked Callen.

"Well, some learn it from experience; the others know the California traffic regulations."

"Wow, well", said Kensi and put her hands on her hips, "I'll tell Eric. And you both learn more about traffic laws."

"Ha ha", said Callen. With sagging shoulders he and Brian departed. Into a day of hell.


	3. Chapter 3

Brian didn't manage to suppress his grin as he got into Callen's silver Aston Martin. He never drove such a baby himself. His old friend had forever raved about it to him, but Brian definitely favored the tuners. Nevertheless it was an awesome feeling to bring this machine up to speed. He drove onto the San Diego Freeway, sped up and passed the other cars. The speedometer needle climbed the 80,

"You know that Hetty sends us to driving school, _because_ we drive to fast?" asked Callen amused.

" _You're_ driving too fast," grinning Brian looked at him, "I don't get caught."

"You don't know where every traffic camera in L.A. is by any chance?"

"Maybe there's an app for that," said Brian, "as I told you earlier: the Racing scene is connected."

Callen laughed. They kept silent for a while. It was Callen, who broke the silence, "What I wanted to as earlier: Did you think about where you're sleeping?"

"I'll look for a motel as soon as the day is over. I need to go to the FLETC training soon anyway, so I didn't want to look for flat until I'm back again."

"That's a long time. I totally forgot you'd have to finish the training. I didn't need to back then, because I came directly from the CIA."

Surprised Brian looked at Callen, "So you're a James Bond? Just without the suit."

"I _was_ a James Bond."

"And you kept the car."

"And I kept the car."

Brian grinned, then he steered the talk back to the original topic, "Ms. Lange said, that I can maybe skip the training. Do you think she can arrange it?"

"Hetty always gets what she wants. You'll realize it. I'm profoundly convinced that she's a little demon."

"I'll take your word for that."

"So regardless whether you have to do the training or not, if you want to you can sleep at mine."

With shock Brian yanked the wheel a little to the side. He counter steered fast, but Callen yelped, hung on to the seat and looked with widened eyes at Brian, "You're driving ice cold under a truck and jump over a bridge, but you react that way at a simple question?"

"Sorry, man! I didn't expect that."

Brian took a deep breath and his heart beat slowly normalized again. How could he suspect that Callen'd make such a proposal? This man wasn't a mind reader, was he? Brian reddened at this stupid idea.

"How come you ask? I mean-"

"In Miami I crashed at yours, too. It's not a problem for me."

"Yes, but you had to live at mine. I don't want you to think you're obligated to me just because we were sleeping together."

Brian blinked, decelerated, shifted down, turned, sped up and shifted up again. He left his hand on the stick shift. Warm fingers laid over his. Brian's heart pounded like mad. He gulped and looked to Callen.

"I don't offer it, because I feel obligated, but because I'd like you stay overnight. Tell me if we're moving too fast with this relationship. We don't have to share a bed. I have a couch, too."

Brian laughed and looked into Callen's eyes, "You think we're moving too fast for me? Believe me: So far I had only one relationship and compared to that this one's really slow. Besides", he looked on the street again, "I thought you wouldn't be the type of man who'd do it in the usual way."

"Well then, it's still nice that we can settle on something."

Brian turned into the last street and drove to the building of the driving school. He turned the engine off, unbuckled, but remained seated. Callen'd already opened the door, but as he noticed that Brian didn't get out, he slammed it shut again, "What's up?"

Brian bit his bottom lip, "What will your boss say if she learns of our relationship?"

"Hetty? I believe, nothing. At the NCIS fraternizing isn't forbidden, you know?"

"Well", Brian raked his fingers through his hair. In his memory the comments of his police colleagues were still present. The almost brawls in the locker rooms and his unheard pleas for support during patrols, too.

He only managed to look into Callen's direction, not his eyes. Brian was full of doubts. He just knew that he didn't want to relieve isolation by colleagues. He wanted to spare Callen something like that in any case. Even if the team gave a decent impression until now; everything changed as soon as it got dragged into light.

"Don't you think they'll view it a little different if it's about two men?"

"Hetty knows of our relationship. She'll have smelled the rat as soon as she saw on the bill that I didn't move into a hotel with Kensi and Sam after Verone's arrest. And if she had an objection against it, she'd have already said something. She will support us, should we get problems."

"How do you know that?"

"I trust Hetty."

Brian gazed at the wheel, "The more I hear about hear and witness her, the more I realize that she has to be an awesome boss."

Suddenly Brian felt Callen's hand at his neck. He looked at the man. Callen leaned forward and they kissed.

"Let's go," whispered Callen, "otherwise we'll be really late. We can talk about it later."

Brian's muscles relaxed. He now felt much lighter, "We don't need to."

Hetty entered the OSP center, "Where are we?"

Sam reported, "Eric runs the name of the alleged appraiser through every databases. In any case Raydex already informed us that no Allison Pritchett is working there. They also confirmed Brian's statement about the street races. Tuned cars can't be insured. We, too, figured out that Yeoman Rush's car was manipulated. Tokkan's still wanted. Kensi and I wanted to drive to Keith and Angela to question them."

Hetty nodded satisfied, "Very good. Don't forget keeping Callen and Mr. O'Conner up to date. They'll join us again, after today's eight hour lessons are over."

A wide grin spread on the faces of every attendant. In a devilish moment Hetty toyed with the thought to send every one of them back to driving school. Just to enjoy their horrified expressions. How she loved her power!

"Agent Hanna, before you hit the road with Kensi, I'd like to speak with you."

Sam nodded at Kensi and followed after Hetty. She led him to her office, where she pushed an already prepared cup of Bach flower tea over to him. Sam sat down at her sign and looked expectantly at her.

"How are you, Sam?"

"Alright, thanks. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to know how you get along with Mr. O'Conner here."

Sam frowned, "I'm afraid I don't right understand."

"Well, I can understand that his background might bother you and you still lack trust in him."

"As far as I understood he is here to replace Dom, right?" asked Sam bitter and highly aggressive, "but as soon as Dom's with us again, O'Conner will disappear."

Hetty lifted the cup and looked over its rim at Sam, "You'd better understand that Agent Vaile's chance of survival have dropped considerably after such a long time."

"Do you want to give him up?" Sam clawed his fingers into the chair's arms.

"Agent Hanna! I understand your hope. I, too, prefer to have Dom in our middle back, but it is the hardship of a superior to remain realistic. You will have learned that as SEAL, too."

"SEALs leave no one behind," growled Sam.

"Be that as it may," said Hetty. It irritated her that she had to be this strict to her agent, but Sam didn't leave her a choice. If he still wanted to be in denial for a little longer, it wasn't a problem as long as his work didn't suffer from it. And the teamwork.

The cool looks between Sam and Brian had attracted Hetty's attention. Because she had an enormous treasure of experience at her disposal, she knew to nip such conflicts in the bud.

"In the meantime Mr. O'Conner will work in this team. He will be Kensi's partner."

"So O'Conner will go if Dom comes back?"

"No, Sam. Brian will stay, even if Dom comes back. He isn't just a replacement. He's quasi an addition to the team."

Sam's sulk was clearly visible in the sagging shoulders and the pinched mouth. He ran her declaration through his mind, until he asked almost hopefully, "That means you won't send Dom away, if he's found? You won't push him off to another department?"

"We will talk about it if the time has come."

"That wasn't a yes," muttered Sam, "I get the feeling you don't believe in Dom's come back. And you already looked for a replacement as a precaution!"

"Agent Hanna, every NCIS agent is aware of the danger of getting hurt or dying during duty. And in that case it is quite common that someone else assumes that post."

"So you really want to keep O'Conner? Even if he is more than unsuitable for it?"

"I read your report from Miami. Mr. O'Conner didn't come out that badly. Personally I only received a good impression of him."

"He was good because he was driving cars. It was his scene. It doesn't give evidence about him how he'll react in a normal case."

"Until now Mr. O'Conner is doing well enough. He pointed you towards the false appraiser. Who knows when we would've discovered that?"

"Just because it conformed to his criminal background. He didn't knew it because of his police training."

"Agent Hanna!" forcibly Hetty put the cup down on the desk. The porcelain chinked and tea sloshed onto the surface, "should it have slipped your mind: This team is still led by me! It just as well could have been that Agent Vaile would have been transferred to another office. You don't like changes, but we all have to adapt to them. And Mr. O'Conner is one of these changes."

Sam kept silent. He stared long at Hetty, then he stemmed his hands on the chair's arms, "If that's all-"

"One moment please."

With a deep sigh Sam let himself fall back into the chair again.

Was she in kindergarten or something? That's why she'd decided against more children back then.

"I just wanted to ask you how you fell at the thought that Callen and O'Conner are in a relationship. However I gather from your former reactions that you're not overly keen about it."

"I don't have a problem with them being men. I know: don't ask, don't tell. I just don't believe, that O'Conner's the right man for Callen."

Hetty nodded slowly, "I understand. I just hope you don't use it as an opportunity to destroy Callen's happiness."

"I'll forever support Callen," Sam stood up. Before he left, he grinned at Hetty, "Of course that doesn't mean I won't break O'Conner's every bone, should he hurt Callen."

And with these words Sam left. Hetty smiled satisfied and took a sip. She'd kind of expected something like that from Sam. She just wondered who'd break Callen's bones should he hurt Brian.

Brian had ascertained early in his childhood that he didn't understand fashion. He knew of skivvies, pants, tees, shirts and the like, but he barely knew fashion brands. And he didn't see a difference between ecru and beige. On the other hand he'd never deem Bayside Blue from Nissan for Octane Blue Pearl from Mitsubishi. That was typical of him.

But that aside even Brian knew that the driving instructor was badly dressed. He'd rather shoot himself than wear a snot colored cardigan. The man staggered with a big trunk and a Thermos bottle forward to the desk and greeted them, "Good day. I'm Mr. Loobertz. Welcome to the Fun For All Traffic School."

The man heaved the trunk onto the desk and Brian wanted to hit his head against the wall. He caught Callen's bewildered look and shrugged his shoulders.

They both had taken seats in last row for good measure. Way out of the atmosphere of this… person.

The only promising thing in this room was the traffic carpet on the board behind him. He'd forever wanted one of them as a child. Because he'd never gotten it for Christmas or his birthday, he'd played with Rome's. But Brian already feared that this session didn't contain a spark of fun.

"Now, I know some of you probably aren't real excited to be here, but I guarantee you…"

At this point Brian blocked the voice of the driving instructor out.

A movement at his eye's corner distracted him. Callen just raised his hand, "Wouldn't that be _chool_?"

Mr. Loobertz answered, "The _H_ is silent."

With a resigned expression Callen looked at Brian, "We're in 'ell."

Brian smiled back. In this moment a busty blonde in a mini dress entered the room. She sat down at the desk beside Callen. Immediately Callen's face brightened and Brian felt the corners of his mouth drop.

He stared at the surface and forced himself not to look into Callen's direction.

He shouldn't be bothered by that. And he shouldn't show discomfort. Callen mustn't see his insecurity.

Mr. Loobertz walked through the rows and distributed sheets of paper. Halfheartedly Brian skimmed the pages. They didn't contain something he didn't already know.

"Now, as you can see, the _California Driver's Handbook_ is well over 90 pages. That's a lot of information for anyone to remember. You know what isn't hard to remember? Anyone? Anyone at all? That's a question. Need a hint?"

Mr. Loobertz put a heavy ghetto blaster onto the desk.

"That's right. That's right. There you go," he switched the music on, "Yeah, Fun For All has broken each section down into songs, from rocking registration riffs to insurance requirement raps. So there's something here for everybody."

Callen rubbed his face and Brian heard how he murmured, "Someone shoot me, please."

Brian chuckled to his self.

"So, let's begin with the laws of priority in traffic. I- yes, you got a question?"

With one mind everyone turned around and looked at Brian, who lowered his hand again, "Yes, I wanted to know whether it'd be possible to do the test now and then leave."

Stunned silence.

"You- you want to do the test now? But you can't already know everything. That's why you're here."

Brian lifted a brow. This poor man seemed so desperate as if he would crumble right now, because someone dared to change his schedule.

"I'm here," said Brian, "because my boss send me. And because I can do something better with my time-"

Now the man became red in his face. How cute. Eagerly Mr. Loobertz rummaged through his documents, "So you think you already know everything?" triumphantly he produced a sheet and read from it, "Then you can simply calculate the stopping distance at a speed of 54 mph. Do you need a calcu-"

"333.96 feet," answered Brian. Innocently, with folded hands and a bright smile he looked at the man.

Mr. Loobertz frowned and just in case looked again at the paper, "That's right, Mr. O'Conner. But with a calculator everyone can do it."

"Well, and I calculated it in my head."

"Then you can tell me the answer to 39 mph, too."

Brian stared directly into his eyes and said, "192.22 feet."

Mr. Loobertz growled and asked, "And the stopping distance at an emergency braking?"

"64.24 feet."

Mr. Loobertz kept silent. Some of the other attendees whispered with each other. Brian looked triumphantly to Callen, who grinned back and raised a thumb.

"Very good, Mr. O'Conner. You proved that you can calculate," Mr. Loobertz tried to gain the control back. He didn't look amused, "But nevertheless you're not allowed doing the test before tomorrow, after the practice lesson. And I'm glad that you like the traffic as much as I do."

Brian lifted a brow. Callen choked on his suppressed laughter and coughed. Mr. Loobertz looked worriedly at him, "Is everything okay, Mr. Wolinski?"

Callen waved it away, "Everything's fine. Keep going."

Mr. Loobertz turned around and began giving a lecture on traffic laws. Brian sank deep back into his chair and stared at the ceiling. Then looked to the clock at the wall. This hour already lasted three days, but it was just 10 o'clock. How could the hour already last for three days?


	4. Chapter 4

Because Callen and Brian had to do a nooner during their break I had to shorten this chapter ;) You may read the complete chapter on my profile under the name Mephysto on AOE.

.:-:.

Moaning Callen fell back into the driver's seat. Brian beside him pouted a little because he wasn't allowed to drive, but Callen desperately needed something that cheered him up. Shortly he considered to simply drive over a red light or do a parking violation. Just to vex this Mr. Loobertz. But he wouldn't become aware of that and he didn't want Hetty's disapproving gaze directed at him again this soon. Who knew which dirty trick would cross her mind this time? Maybe she'd send him to primary school or something. No, that he didn't want.

"Hey, G?" Brian's voice pulled him from his depressive thoughts and Callen looked into sparkling, blue eyes.

"Let's pick up my baby. It's almost on our way and won't take long."

Callen looked at the watch. It wasn't like they were expected or something. Many of interrogations wouldn't be done today. Actually Sam and Kensi just had to bring them up to date and Brian wanted to take a look at Yeoman Rush's car. And he and Brian surely deserved a little break after this torture.

"Show me the way," Callen started the car. His mood improved significantly, when Brian beamed at him. They squiggled fast through the traffic. Brian directed him past the main streets, which at this time were one whole parking lot. Callen had lived for several years in L.A. now, but even he learned about some new ways this day.

"Is this a garage like Tej's?" he asked into the pleasant silence.

Brian nodded, "A friend of him. Of course they do the normal business, too, but they stay afloat by catering to the street racers."

"Can you really earn money with this? I mean, in Miami it looked like big business, but nevertheless-"

"It depends on who your customers are. Harry's garage, where I was undercover back then, worked well, because it was known that Dom bought from him. The reputation always matters. Tej's worked well, because he organized the races himself and everyone knew that he wouldn't cheat you."

"And because Bullitt worked for him."

Brian laughed, "Maybe later this was a factor, but Tej build himself something good."

"And he really parties every day. I didn't believe you at first, but now I wonder how he and his crew get the work done."

"Tej isn't lazy. They begin early. Till afternoon work and after that comes pleasure. And you witnessed it: The races aren't every evening."

"Do you want to do races here, too? Get a name again?"

Brian hesitated with his answer and Callen looked to him. He had to gulp as he saw how Brian worked his lip.

"Maybe it isn't such a good idea. I mean now that I work _for_ the law again. Besides maybe they don't like me in the scene anymore. I don't know how much is found its way into the scene after Dom's escape. I don't know how much Vince told."

"Vince doesn't live in L.A. anymore."

"Huh?"

"I enquired about the case, before I flew down to Miami. Letty and Toretto are still disappeared. Vince doesn't live in L.A. anymore, too. Supposed to be immigrated to Brazil. Leon works in a little garage here in town and Mia Toretto still lives in Echo Park."

Brian was silent. After a while he said, "I'm sorry that the team's torn apart now. They were good. They fitted each other."

"But they have to bear the consequences for what they did. As did you."

Brian melancholy smiled, "Altogether I came off well."

"Well," said Callen attempting to be casual, "anyway I won't complain. Who knows where you would've been, if I hadn't flown down to Miami. Surely not here in my car, where you fit in quite well."

"Not one of your best lines, hm? What did you want to achieve with that?"

Callen stopped at a red light. He regarded Brian from head to toe and licked his lips, "Maybe I wanted to seduce you?"

Brian put his head in his hand and looked back with half-closed eyes, "And you think it's that easy?"

"Why not?" Callen stretched out his hand and stroked Brian's knee. His fingers slowly crawled up to Brian's hip. He looked into his face. Brian's eyes sparkled and his lips were partially opened.

Reluctantly Callen took his hand back and looked forward. The traffic light changed and he started the car.

"I really shouldn't do this during driving. Could turn nasty otherwise."

"If you make do with the space, it's alright."

"It's damn narrow in here. We'd have to be quite flexible, to not bump our heads during it."

Callen shifted. He wanted to take his hand away from the stick shift, but Brian laid his hand simply over his, "Did you have already sex in a car?"

"High-school, on the back seat. And I can tell you, it was damn awkward. I almost sprained my neck."

Brian escaped a snort and a fast look told Callen, that the blonde's shoulders quivered.

"Yes, yes. Laugh about it. I bet your experiences, if you had them, weren't better. I'm of the opinion sex in cars is overrated."

Brian's fingers traveled along Callen's lower arm and a shiver went through his body. Brian's voice caused a fire between his legs, "I already did it in a car. Was an Aston, too. A Vantage. From zero to hundred in 4.8 seconds. In cherry rogue."

Brian took his hand away, but before it could land in the blonde's lap, Callen caught it. He interlaced their fingers and said grinning, "Almost sounds as if the car turned you more on than the man."

"Let's say it this way: a fast car makes me get going."

Callen groaned and looked at the street again, "You should stop saying things like that."

He spread his legs a little wider. By now his pants had become tight and the pictures Brian caused in his head weren't helpful!

"Drive up there left front. There's a warehouse where we won't be disturbed."

Surprised, mixed with a little shock, Callen looked to Brian, "You're not serious! In broad daylight?"

"Only if you want to," Brian took his hand away and looked out of the window. He hunched his shoulders and seemed insecure. No picture Callen wanted to see. He cast a glance at the clock. They still had time!

He turned left and drove into aforementioned warehouse. It already looked rundown. It didn't have a gate, the windows were broken and there was nothing in it. Perfect for a little nooner.

Callen turned the engine off and looked questioningly to Brian, "So what's next? I only know of doing it on the backseat."

Brian leaned his back against the window, "Are you sure?"

"Oh no! You're not putting these pictures into my head and then cop out. I can't drive in this condition!"

He pointed at the obvious bulge in his jeans. Brian's eyes attached themselves to it and he licked his lips.

"Let's get out."

"But I thought we're doing it in the car."

"We have to change places. I'm not up for getting a wheel in my back, while I'm riding you."

Woah, what these words did to his imagination! With a speed he rarely showed Callen jumped out of the car. He heard Brian laugh and soon the blonde stood beside the car. They both walked around the Aston and Callen followed the urge to slap Brian's butt. Then he sat on the passenger seat.

.:-cut scene-:.

Breathing fast he leaned forward and kissed Callen hard. Then he said, "We should go. Our break's over. "

Callen laughed, "I think we already exceeded."


End file.
